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The Computer Connection

A band of immortals recruit a new member, the brilliant Cherokee physicist Sequoya Guess. Dr. Guess, with the group's help, gains control of Extro, the super-computer that controls all mechanical activity on Earth. They plan to rid Earth of political repression and to further Guess's researches-which may lead to a great leap in human evolution to produce a race of supermen A band of immortals recruit a new member, the brilliant Cherokee physicist Sequoya Guess. Dr. Guess, with the group's help, gains control of Extro, the super-computer that controls all mechanical activity on Earth. They plan to rid Earth of political repression and to further Guess's researches-which may lead to a great leap in human evolution to produce a race of supermen. But Extro takes over Guess instead and turns malevolent. The task of the merry band suddenly becomes a fight in deadly earnest for the future of Earth.

A band of immortals recruit a new member, the brilliant Cherokee physicist Sequoya Guess. Dr. Guess, with the group's help, gains control of Extro, the super-computer that controls all mechanical activity on Earth. They plan to rid Earth of political repression and to further Guess's researches-which may lead to a great leap in human evolution to produce a race of supermen A band of immortals recruit a new member, the brilliant Cherokee physicist Sequoya Guess. Dr. Guess, with the group's help, gains control of Extro, the super-computer that controls all mechanical activity on Earth. They plan to rid Earth of political repression and to further Guess's researches-which may lead to a great leap in human evolution to produce a race of supermen. But Extro takes over Guess instead and turns malevolent. The task of the merry band suddenly becomes a fight in deadly earnest for the future of Earth.

30 review for
The Computer Connection

4 out of 5

Megan Baxter–Feb 08, 2014

This is a strange little book, and far from Bester's best. But it was nominated for a Hugo, and so I read it, and it's weird. With some redeeming moments. And a lot of vaguely uncomfortable but yet vaguely progressive gender and racial politics. I don't quite know how to wrap my head around it. I guess that's what this review is here to do.
Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the m This is a strange little book, and far from Bester's best. But it was nominated for a Hugo, and so I read it, and it's weird. With some redeeming moments. And a lot of vaguely uncomfortable but yet vaguely progressive gender and racial politics. I don't quite know how to wrap my head around it. I guess that's what this review is here to do.
Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

5 out of 5

Nick–Sep 18, 2013

Alfred Bester wrote The Stars My Destination and The Demolished Man, two must-reads for any serious fan of science fiction literature. They are classics worthy of study, as well as just good books.
Then, he stopped writing novels for many years. Sadly, he returned to writing in order to write this book.
Having loved Bester's classic works, I was surprised to stumble across this book in a book sale. I didn't recognize the title or remember the premise, so I figured, "How bad could it be? It's writt Alfred Bester wrote The Stars My Destination and The Demolished Man, two must-reads for any serious fan of science fiction literature. They are classics worthy of study, as well as just good books.
Then, he stopped writing novels for many years. Sadly, he returned to writing in order to write this book.
Having loved Bester's classic works, I was surprised to stumble across this book in a book sale. I didn't recognize the title or remember the premise, so I figured, "How bad could it be? It's written by Bester." I then spent an hour stumbling through the prose. Written after a long layoff from writing novels, Bester seems to have been trying to write a trendy, New Wave science fiction novel of the kind that Michael Moorcock and his friends were writing at the time. Unfortunately, this style is not well-matched to Bester's, and the result was painful.
Supposedly, in a little over 100 years, a frankly insulting blend of Spanish and African American English [which seems to be based on slang and accents from 1940s movies, so it comes out with things like "gemmun" for "gentlemen"] has replaced standard English, and the remaining Caucasian part of the population has inbred to imbecility. No reason, just because. Repeatedly through the story Bester's dates and numbers wander into weirdness. As an example, within the story the Cherokee people apparently have gone through 20 generations in 250 years. You may pause to think about what this means.
There's also a very sexualized 13-year-old in the story, who was apparently born in the 5th row of Graumann's Chinese theater and keeps hoping to have sex with every adult male character in the story. That got creepy right away, and stayed creepy, even though they turn her down.
Then, there's the actual story. It is based on the idea that a sufficient trauma near death can sometimes scare your body out of ever dying. So, yes, he really went there...that's why and how Jesus came back, along with a weird variety of other characters.
There's also time travel and other weirdness, but all in support of this concept and related ones.
I very rarely give up on a book without finishing it. I don't think I can finish this one. The time I've already spent has felt like too much of a waste of my time.

4 out of 5

Stian–Dec 03, 2013

Stopped around page 120.
Officially the first book in my life that I have stopped reading because of its sheer awfulness. What the hell were you thinking, Alfred? This is bad and you should feel bad.

5 out of 5

Denis–Sep 15, 2012

Alfred Bester was a very creative writer. In the 1950's, he wrote two classic SF novel: "The Demolished Man" (which won a Hugo) and "Tiger Tiger" aka "The Stars are my Destination" which is considered one of - if not the - best SF novel of the 1950's. He also wrote several excellent short stories throughout his life-time.
One can tell a Bester work just from looking at the text. It is common practice these days, but back then (in the fifties), he liked doing odd graphic things with
the letters
of Alfred Bester was a very creative writer. In the 1950's, he wrote two classic SF novel: "The Demolished Man" (which won a Hugo) and "Tiger Tiger" aka "The Stars are my Destination" which is considered one of - if not the - best SF novel of the 1950's. He also wrote several excellent short stories throughout his life-time.
One can tell a Bester work just from looking at the text. It is common practice these days, but back then (in the fifties), he liked doing odd graphic things with
the letters
of his
type
...
And he tended to add drawings within the text. I imagine that this was a headache to publishers and typesetters of the day. This visual elements might have something to do with the fact that the majority of his work was in television and comic books.
After a quarter of century hiatus of the SF novel writing, in 1974, he published "The Computer Connection" aka "Indian Giver (Uggh!) aka "Extro" in Britain (which is the most apt title). Though this novel has all the elements of a bonafide Bester work - incorporating all of his personal unique touches, unfortunately it has its short comings. Perhaps he tried too hard with this one: the "hip" lingo, the unconventional pros, the odd plotting and so on... it just didn't quite work as a whole. He himself said, during an interview with Charles Platt: "...my first experiment was a disaster... That confounded book. There is something vitally wrong with that book, and I knew it when I finished it, and couldn't patch it then, and to this day (Sept. 1979) I think about it, because there's no point in making a mistake unless you understand the mistake so that you don't make it again. I don't understand it, so I can't profit by it. It's infuriating."
Even though Bester seems a little out of touch on this one, I still consider the man a genius.

5 out of 5

Erik–Apr 20, 2009

Alfred Bester was one of the grandmaster class of science fiction writers. The Demolished Man and Stars my Destination are widely considered among the best of the genre. In the first one it was peepers and murder in a crimeless society; in the second it was the new human technology of jaunting and a rollicking revenge plot based on the Count of Monte Cristo. In the Computer Connection, Bester tackles a Group of immortals, or molecule men. We meet Guest, a.k.a. the Chief, a.k.a. Sequoia, a native Alfred Bester was one of the grandmaster class of science fiction writers. The Demolished Man and Stars my Destination are widely considered among the best of the genre. In the first one it was peepers and murder in a crimeless society; in the second it was the new human technology of jaunting and a rollicking revenge plot based on the Count of Monte Cristo. In the Computer Connection, Bester tackles a Group of immortals, or molecule men. We meet Guest, a.k.a. the Chief, a.k.a. Sequoia, a native american physicist, who may be prime material to join the Group, if he survives of course, heh heh heh. Enter an evil computer and a possible renegade immortal to the mix as Bester gives the pot one stir after another. This is far from a bad novel even if you can usually "Guess" what's coming. He's still got a few Besterisms up his sleeve and some linguistic trickery and fun. I suppose writers with a few masterpieces under their belts get a little bored of painting you the picture and filling in details and characterization. It becomes more of a sketch for a comic book, where you fill in the panels with your imagination, and don't complain that it's not bulked out with Dickensian description. That stuff is always nice, but in genre novels, it's really beside the point. One knows the premise, the settings and the basic character types, and what we're clamoring for is STORY. The ending sort of piffles out, but he does manage to tie this whole thing into a kind of bow.

5 out of 5

fromcouchtomoon–May 07, 2016

D.N.F. If cryology recycles ontogeny, then freeze this piece of crap for 100 days in space and maybe it will do us all a favor and reverse its own existence.
Reads like an old-fashioned douche is trying to be hip with the kids by doing EDGY stuff, but all he can do is stir up a lot of anti-PC nonplots because that's so EDGY and funny and not just a big, steaming pile of stale and unoriginal gags that don't even make sense to sane people. BORING AND DUMB. I should have known when I saw (and prompt D.N.F. If cryology recycles ontogeny, then freeze this piece of crap for 100 days in space and maybe it will do us all a favor and reverse its own existence.
Reads like an old-fashioned douche is trying to be hip with the kids by doing EDGY stuff, but all he can do is stir up a lot of anti-PC nonplots because that's so EDGY and funny and not just a big, steaming pile of stale and unoriginal gags that don't even make sense to sane people. BORING AND DUMB. I should have known when I saw (and promptly skipped) the Ellison foreword that looked (as usual) defensive and hyperbolic. The only other novel I DNF'd in the past three years was Heinlein's Time Enough for Love so, you know, given all the vintage SF I read, statistics show I'm pretty persistent and forgiving (and probably dead inside).

5 out of 5

Tyler–Apr 11, 2016

This book got better as it went on. The first few pages were almost incomprehensible in it's amount of slang that is unexplained.
E.g., the first sentence:
I tore down the Continental Shelf off the Bogue Bank while the pogo made periscope hops trying to track me.
What??
But as I read through the book it actually began to make more and more sense, and by the middle I was actually invested in the characters and story.
Something about this book made me want to read it at break-neck speed, I don't have This book got better as it went on. The first few pages were almost incomprehensible in it's amount of slang that is unexplained.
E.g., the first sentence:
I tore down the Continental Shelf off the Bogue Bank while the pogo made periscope hops trying to track me.
What??
But as I read through the book it actually began to make more and more sense, and by the middle I was actually invested in the characters and story.
Something about this book made me want to read it at break-neck speed, I don't have the energy to dissect Bester's writing, but it lent itself to speed-reading.
3.5/5 stars, If you got it in the Humble Bundle like I did, feel free to jump in. I wouldn't recommend going out and buying it though.

There was a strain of exuberant writing in the late 1960s and early 1970s and this is solidly in that vein. It ranged from Hunter S. Thompson to Richard Brautigan and beyond. This is solidly in that micro-tradition.
Let go and join the flow. Don't try to figure out the science or the slang or any of those things you are used to digging into in an SF novel. This is a wild ride with fireworks at every turn.

5 out of 5

Charl–Aug 30, 2017

It's weird, and a little wacko, but actually not that hard to follow. I'm not sure it wasn't excellent, but I'm not sure it was, either. So I'll split the difference.
If you like Zelazney, Dick and other surreal authors, try this. It's not like Bester's other works at all, and very out there.

5 out of 5

Jon–Jun 03, 2018

Wow, that is one serious pile of New Wave, thick with the style of the time and almost dizzying to hack through.

4 out of 5

Nick–Dec 21, 2012

Although somewhat dated now, this is still a very good Alfred Bester novel, which means it is a very good story.

4 out of 5

James–Nov 11, 2018

Fascinating and incredibly complicated

5 out of 5

Jason Bergman–Feb 12, 2013

Alfred Bester is unquestionably one of the greatest sci-fi writers of all time. The Stars My Destination and The Demolished Man are absolute classics.
This book is not of the same caliber.
It's not entirely without merit - Bester does do some interesting things with language, similar to his other works. And it has some genuinely funny slapstick moments.
But for the most part it's just not very good. It moves too quickly, the gags (linguistic or otherwise) don't always work, and it all falls flat. Alfred Bester is unquestionably one of the greatest sci-fi writers of all time. The Stars My Destination and The Demolished Man are absolute classics.
This book is not of the same caliber.
It's not entirely without merit - Bester does do some interesting things with language, similar to his other works. And it has some genuinely funny slapstick moments.
But for the most part it's just not very good. It moves too quickly, the gags (linguistic or otherwise) don't always work, and it all falls flat.
I'm glad I read it...but I wouldn't recommend others do the same. Read his celebrated works. Skip this one.

5 out of 5

David Mann–Nov 12, 2017

Crazy stuff
I loved Demolished Man and Stars My Destination. This book though is just plain nuts. A demented combination of late Heinlein, Phil Farmer, and William S Burroughs, the story is a little difficult to follow. It involves some immortals, an evil computer, and the end of the world, but that doesn't really do it justice. The language, known as XX (for 20th century), takes a while to get used to. Some political incorrectiveness (including every slang term for Native American) as well as ou Crazy stuff
I loved Demolished Man and Stars My Destination. This book though is just plain nuts. A demented combination of late Heinlein, Phil Farmer, and William S Burroughs, the story is a little difficult to follow. It involves some immortals, an evil computer, and the end of the world, but that doesn't really do it justice. The language, known as XX (for 20th century), takes a while to get used to. Some political incorrectiveness (including every slang term for Native American) as well as outmoded computer "dialog" has not aged well. Nevertheless both themes of the book (immortality and AI) have relevance today. Not sure the author wasn't on drugs when he wrote this however.

4 out of 5

maryann–Oct 10, 2007

i just re-read this. disclaimer: bester is one of my favorite authors of all time--i think his writing style is just incredible. but this book starts strong and then gets less and less interesting as it continues. the style is almost as neat as in 'the stars my destination' and 'demolished man', but then the plot loses its oOmph and the story doesn't seem very tight and the characters aren't as witty as you want them to be and... blah. suddenly it's over and you're left feeling that something wa i just re-read this. disclaimer: bester is one of my favorite authors of all time--i think his writing style is just incredible. but this book starts strong and then gets less and less interesting as it continues. the style is almost as neat as in 'the stars my destination' and 'demolished man', but then the plot loses its oOmph and the story doesn't seem very tight and the characters aren't as witty as you want them to be and... blah. suddenly it's over and you're left feeling that something was lacking.
HOWEVER! the book's jacket, which states that 'the stars my destination' is considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time, made the re-read worth it :D hooray!

4 out of 5

Pickle–Aug 09, 2012

if i could give in 0/5 i would, this was terrible and i finally gave up on page 163 from 216.
Its seems to be a story of some kind where and indian man dies and comes back to life merged, in mind only, with the super computer Extro with a massive amount of nonsense filling the rest of the book.
i couldnt read anymore and had to give up. Complete rubbish, do not read.

5 out of 5

Victor Chernov–Sep 26, 2014

It was like a very ugly person - you can't take you eye off him/her, because of the ugliness.
The ideas, by themselves, are nice, but the story is weird and quite badly written and executed. But hey, I didn't drop it in the middle.

5 out of 5

Paige–Mar 04, 2015

A couple interesting concepts, but on the whole not an engaging novel. Maybe don't mention this one when recommending people Bester.

I'm hard pressed to say if my uncertainties about this book relate to the age of it, or simply to the general style. With 'The Stars My Destination' I didn't have any sense of age, but then that was perhaps a more typical sci-fi story, whereas 'The Computer Connection' is more grounded in modern day Earth, which naturally leads to more things feeling off given the age of the book.
But I think the comedic nature of the story might be the bigger issue, and this was something I only really picked u I'm hard pressed to say if my uncertainties about this book relate to the age of it, or simply to the general style. With 'The Stars My Destination' I didn't have any sense of age, but then that was perhaps a more typical sci-fi story, whereas 'The Computer Connection' is more grounded in modern day Earth, which naturally leads to more things feeling off given the age of the book.
But I think the comedic nature of the story might be the bigger issue, and this was something I only really picked up on after I finished it and read the foreword. I liked the incidental irreverent humour in 'The Stars My Destination', but over the course of this book I found it more dated and sometimes needlessly insensitive. Attitudes towards women aren't great, and the main character's habit of referring to a Native American as Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Hiawatha and similar rather than just using their name in an allegedly future scenario is rather grating.
Overall I found the book a little disjointed, lacking a strong central plot line, and not that compelling. There are some moments of inventiveness and fun, but nothing that really makes you think. I expect anyone who gels with Bester's humour would find it a far more enjoyable read, but it left me fairly cold.

5 out of 5

Chris Harris–Jan 06, 2018

I first read this as a teenager (when it was published in the UK with the title "Extro") because (a) it was Bester and (b) it had been nominated for the Nebula and Hugo awards. I remember being hugely disappointed back then; returning to it after forty years I was hoping for a better experience the second time around. I didn't get it.
Oh dear. I get that, given the protagonist's nickname, the style is intended to be a gory, violent puppet show. But even puppet shows can have nuanced plots; this I first read this as a teenager (when it was published in the UK with the title "Extro") because (a) it was Bester and (b) it had been nominated for the Nebula and Hugo awards. I remember being hugely disappointed back then; returning to it after forty years I was hoping for a better experience the second time around. I didn't get it.
Oh dear. I get that, given the protagonist's nickname, the style is intended to be a gory, violent puppet show. But even puppet shows can have nuanced plots; this just feels hackneyed. How on Earth did this garner the nominations it did? It comes across as if Bester read John Brunner's "Stand on Zanzibar" and decided he could do better. He couldn't. The stylistic pyrotechnics feel contrived and clumsy, the main character is a skeezy immortal douchebag, and most incidental characters just happen to be famous people from history. It's left my opinion of Bester much diminished, which saddens me.

5 out of 5

Gustavo–Jan 06, 2019

An eclectic group of eccentric immortals with serious memory issues faces an amazing adventure.
It's a roller coaster ride, full ofl deux ex machina artifacts that make perfect sense in the context of the story, but makes it kind of hard to read.
It took me a lot of time to go through this book, and I put it down and picked it again, sometimes reading it again from the beginning. It's not an easy book. But it's so wonderful it's worth it.

4 out of 5

Steve Coughlan–Dec 01, 2018

I recognize that writing style from my youth. I never really enjoyed it... it gets in the way of the story, IMHO. And now, lo these many many years since it was contemporary, the veiled references, assumed common "hip" knowledge and context are lost to me, and are never even known to the potential younger reader. So it's hard wrrk to read, between not knowing what Bester knew then, and knowing what we know now. Which is not to downplay the good bits... an interesting world to live in!

4 out of 5

Rob Markowitz–Aug 25, 2018

It seems like Bester was really trying to write a Heinlein novel here and didn't do it very well.

4 out of 5

Mike Pearce–Jul 28, 2017

Not as good as The Stars My Destination and quite hard to read, but the core story is pretty cool.

4 out of 5

Gersh Buck–Jan 02, 2019

Like a few others on here, I really liked other Alfred Bester books but this one was all over the place. For Bester completists only.

I read this when it first came out, in serial form: in Analog, as I recall, but I'm not sure: we were taking quite a few SF mags at the time.
The story begins with the narrator traveling back in time to try to rescue Thomas Chatterton from his suicide by poisoning. The narrator is called the Grand Guignol by his compatriots, because he keeps trying to kill people in horrible, lingering ways and then rescue them at the eleventh hour--but he keeps botching the rescues. It's not clear why he's doing I read this when it first came out, in serial form: in Analog, as I recall, but I'm not sure: we were taking quite a few SF mags at the time.
The story begins with the narrator traveling back in time to try to rescue Thomas Chatterton from his suicide by poisoning. The narrator is called the Grand Guignol by his compatriots, because he keeps trying to kill people in horrible, lingering ways and then rescue them at the eleventh hour--but he keeps botching the rescues. It's not clear why he's doing this, at first, until it's revealed that he's part of a small (but growing) group of people who can metabolize almost anything, and (if not killed outright) live almost indefinitely. 'Guig', as he's called, is trying to deliberately recruit people to a group that's hitherto gained recruits almost entirely by accident.
There are many other elements in this story. Two of the lead characters are directly descended from Sequoyah ("No, they named the tree after HIM"), and one has as his given name the English name that was used for Sequoyah in official documents. He's a member of a combined tribe that lives on the bed of what remains of Lake Michigan, and mines the sediments for toxic materials (re)used in industries.
On Titan, one of the oldest members of the immortal group (a Neanderthal, it's implied)lives in an unsealed rock hut, breathing methane and not even bothering to heat it.
People eat about once every six hours, and nobody even tries to correlate schedules. Those who are imprisoned are drugged with euphoric drugs, so that they will be disinclined to even try to escape.
As a description of a complex society, it must necessarily be incohernet sometimes. This is enhanced by the fact that the novel was originally published in serial form. That's not necessarily a deterrent, unless people aren't prepared to read attentively.
The hinge of the story is somewhat lost in the middle. The epilectic Dr George Guess, thrown into a seizure by a shock (and thus becoming one of the Group), writes a message in mirror writing (the only way he can get it past his inner censors): "Ontogeny recapitulates philogeny, but..." then later adds verbally "But cryogeny recapitulates ontogeny". This is the origin of the dei ex machina. The 'new' creatures which arise from the volunteer experimental cold sleepers are presented as potentially the resolution to human problems (for one thing, they're hermaphroditic).
Unfortunately, even by the time the book was published, it had already been firmly established that ontogeny does NOT recapitulate philogeny. Oh, well. One more beautiful theory shot down by an ugly little fact.

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